Junior Dos Santos: "Weak-chinned Brock Lesnar can't take a punch"

Thats the main problem I have with this fight being linked to TUF, it delays it until June when theres really no reason it couldnt happen in March/April. At best that means Cains going to have to wait until what September/October at the earliesteven if he's fit and if the winner picks up an injury it could be even longer than that.

If all these injuries tell you one thing its that fighters shouldnt be kept on the shelf when there fit.

 

I think they are saying Cain could be out for 8 months, maybe longer. Depends where you read. If they fight in March and Cain isn't ready until late this year then they have the same issue of staying inactive for 6 or 7 months.

Brock is a ratings machine and JDS really isn't at the moment. Either Brock is back and back with a huge win OR JDS is recognised and the UFC get some worth out of Brock until he jumps ship to an easier way of life.

Also, despite what Dana says, in the UFC the best do not fight the best 3 times a year at heavyweight. In other weight classes, some of them do but not heavyweght.

 

I don't think its that he has no chin but more of being scared of being hit in the face and is not comfortable with the situation. But taking punch for punch he can take some, given he is over 260lbs. That is probably what held him up against Carwin, not to mention Carwin never got to hit him with a clean punch. Sure, Carwin has had the power to be walking back and hit a guy with a jab and knock him down but its a different ball league when you are fighting a guy your own weight or heavier.

 

I think its more a case of he's not "used" to being hit. Brock certainly doesn't have a beard of the AA variety and he showed some cojones coming back vs Carwin. But he's inexperience is plain as light is day.

 

Agreed.

With grappling, you learn skills and implement them in sparring and you can spar full speed. In striking, you learn skills btu implementing them while someone else can or is causing you damage is much harder to do. Also, sparring is usually with bigger gloves and more protection. You can't do real fights everyday or it is very taxing physically.

Also, in striking, you may be inexperienced but eventually you will pick up that experience and improve. In MMA, alot of guys talk about striking but when the hands fly a double leg suddenly looks so attractive. In Brocks case, he even fluffs his wrestling by bending at the waist and shooting.

The running away isn't that he is scared, he is inexperienced. Otherwise, he would never engage and would be shooting from too far out or only shoot when someone is completely open etc

Brock needs to get himself to a boxing gym but unlike alot of MMA he doesn't seem to travel from camp to camp improving. He needs to call up Freddie and get some work in. He could obviously improve the rest of his striking but he'll never be Anderson Silva and I don't think he'll turn and run from a leg kick.

 

Its clear Brock does very little boxing sparring. If he did he's react better when being hit. Anyway we're all stating the obvious. The guy has a handful of fights and was given the "push" by the UFC. The parallels aren't that dissimilar in principle to the farce that was Kimbo. Neither in my opinion had any place in the UFC.

 

Subjectively I kind of agree with this. However, when looking at the results he had; defeating Couture & Mir. Objectively, its hard to say he didn't belong. However there could be the argument that stylistically he was fed the right opponents and that that he would have been exposed way before, should he had been force to start from the bottom, like everyone else. While as Kimbo, he certainly didn't belong, as he was exposed way prior to joining the organization, not once but twice (Elite & TUF).

 

A fighter can train to be bigger and faster and stronger BUT he cannot train his chin....and unless a fighter has the reflexes and experience to slip a punch he is just a "knockout by" statistic.

 

Those wins means nothing to me. They're the equivalent of what Sapp did in the K-1 vs Ernesto Hoost.
Lesnar would have had some credibility IF he'd worked his way into title contention. He did not. At a whopping 2-1 he was given a title shot after ONE fight in the UFC vs a guy who'd clearly seen much better days. When you hand a fighter an opportunity of the calibre of physical talent that Brock is there's two things that can happen. He'll win or he'll loose. Its really that simple. The UFC though had far more to win gambling on Brock's success than it did even if he lost. Brock represented nothing more than savvy business.
On that basis alone he has no credibility which is punctuated by his lack of experience and non existent background in fighting disciplines.

 

I can certainly see the business behind it but in sporting terms its far from ideal, Cains layoff possibly made worse and JDS is going to have been on the shelf for 10 months by June.

 

Top Heavyweights seem to have been going through a bit of a curse of late - those two will have been inactive, Brock was out for a long time with illness, Carwin out for a year with the suspension, Barnett inactive, and Fedor has been inactive for the past few years

 

I was referring to belonging in the org all together. as far as getting a title shot that was certainly bogus right off the bat regardless of the result, you have to earn your shot at the top in any org or have some mega credentials to back it up. Its obvious what the ufc had in mind, with $$$ at the top of the list as they always do.